Shish Barak- Meat Dumplings Yogurt Stew

Shish Barak is a traditional Lebanese dish, perhaps of Turkish/Ottoman origins (hence the name), which is basically made of tiny meat dumplings cooked in a plain yogurt stew. Shish Barak belongs to the “Tabeekh” traditional Lebanese category, ie, home stews, and is not usually served by main stream Lebanese restaurants. However if you frequent Afghan restaurants you’ll be surprised to find that the “Mantu” dish is a cousin of Shish Barak.

Shish Barak packs an intriguing taste stemming from the intense flavor of cooked yogurt, and then crowned with subtle aromas from the mint, cilantro and garlic. Spring is usually the time when local goat milk becomes plenty in Lebanon, and preparing this dish in goat plain yogurt yields a much richer and intense flavor than if cooked with regular cow plain yogurt. And both are lovely.

How to Prepare Shish Barak

The process of cooking Shish Barak involves the following steps: 1) preparing the meat stuffing, 2) rolling the dumplings and 3) cooking the dumplings in the yogurt sauce. The parts that are most time consuming are steps 1 and 2. For that reason, mama uses the opportunity to prepare several meals of dumplings in one sitting. She then splits and packs them in ziplog bags and stores them in the freezer for a few months. That way anytime we feel like Shish Barak she pulls a pack of dumplings from the freezer and within half an hour the meal is ready.

Rolling the Shish Barak Dumplings

After the meat stuffing has been cooked with 7-spices and pine nuts, flatten a plain dough to a thickness of about 2 dimes (1/8th of an inch), and that’s very thin. Then with the lid of an oil bottle (or any equivalent mini-cookie cutter) cut the dough into small disks. Then place about 1/3 to 1/2 of a teaspoon of meat on each piece of dough, fold the sides and close the dough on the fillings, then pull the edges around, and clamp them together to form what mom calls “a hat” which resembles ravioli. The diameter of the dumpling should be small, and not exceed that of a quarter.

Freezing the Dumplings

Dust a tray with some flour, then place the freshly made dumplings on it and freeze for a couple of hours. Once frozen, pack each 7-8 oz of dumplings together in small ziplog bags, close tightly while squeezing as much air out as possible, mark them with the date and put back in freezer for future use. They can last a few months, if the bag is tightly sealed, and each one of those bags is enough for a meal of 4 servings.

Cooking the Shish Barak

Traditionally, Shish Barak is cooked with plain yogurt (Greek yogurt). Yogurt is added to a cooking pot with a bit of water, then slowly brought to a boil on very low heat, and while constantly stirring (very important so it doesn’t break apart). Once it boils, then salt, dried mint powder, crushed garlic, and cilantro leaves are added along with the Shish Barak dumplings and it’s then simmered with occasional stirring for about 20 minutes or so, or until the dumplings are well cooked.

Alternatively, you can also cook Shish Barak with “Labneh” which is strained yogurt, and this is our favorite method. It yields a more intense taste than regular plain yogurt. If using Labneh, stirr 1 lb of Labneh with water until it’s all homogeneous and then bring to a boil slowly following the same steps as in the method using yogurt.

And now to the recipe, we hope you enjoy it and we’d love to hear your feedback.

Shish Barak Stew Ingredients (4 servings)

Note: If using Greek yogurt instead of Labneh, then use 5 cups of yogurt and 1 cup of water

Meat Stuffing Preparation Method (20 mins)

Sautee the onions with a bit of olive oil until they start turning pinkish (10 mins)

Add the ground beef, 7-spices, salt, mix well and then sautee until the beef is cooked (10 minutes)

Add the pine nuts in the last 5 minutes. The meat stuffing is now ready.

Dough Preparation Method (20 mins)

Mix the dough ingredients in a food processor (or knead with hands) and let rest for a few minutes.

When ready, place dough on kitchen counter that’s been dusted with flour, and flatten into a large disk the thickness of 2 dimes (1/8th of an inch).

Using a bottle lid (or small cookie cutter), cut the dough into disks the size of a quarter (3/4th of an inch in diameter)

Place cut dough on a plate that’s been dusted with flour

Place 1/3 to 1/2 teaspoon of meat stuffing in the center of each dough piece, fold edges in and close them on the meat, then pull edges around and fold them on one another, then flatten the sides to make it all look like a “hat” or ravioli.

Line up all the dumplings on a flour dusted plate

If you’re making extra dumplings for future use, lay dumplings on a flour dusted tray in the freezer for a couple of hours, and then pack them in small ziplog bags (about 7 – 8 oz each) and store back in freezer for a few months. Each bag (or 7 – 8 oz) of ready dumplings can make 4 servings.

Shish Barak Cooking Method 1, With Labneh: (40 minutes)

Pour 6 cups of water and 1 lb of labneh in a pot, mix well until all Labneh is dissolved, then place on stove over medium-low heat and keep on stirring gently until it reaches a boil, at which time you turn the heat to low.

Add 2 crushed cloves of garlic

Add the dried mint powder and cilantro leaves

Add 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of salt (to taste)

Add juice from 1 freshly squeezed lemon. If you’re using goat yogurt you can skip this step.

Add the Shish Barak dumplings, bring the stew to a boil again, and then stir gently on low heat for 15-20 minutes until the shish barak dumplings are cooked.

Serve hot as a soup

Cooking Method 2, With Greek Yogurt: (50 minutes)

Pour 5 cups of plain yogurt (Greek yogurt) and 1 cup of water in a pot and stir continuously on low heat until it reaches a boil. It is very important that heat is very low and stirring is constant otherwise the yogurt may break apart and can’t be salvaged

38 Responses to Shish Barak- Meat Dumplings Yogurt Stew

I Loved this recipe! There is simply nothing better than Lebanese food. I made Shish barak with this recipe for me and my husband, who is turkish, and he found it very familiar. The only difference is that they do not use dried cilantro leaves or mint. Instead they make a paprika sauce, which they serve on top of the dish. The combination of both, is even more yummy!!

I keep reading about the labneh... Could I use Greek yogurt and drain it in the fridge over a colander and cheese cloth.. My aunts make this dish and they make their own labneh from scratch the same way my grandma taught them how to do it. I've loved this dish since I was a child but because of the labor intensity of it but I have a pasta sheeter which I will use to extend the dough and I have a rolling cutter so that takes care of that. Please answer me as I want to make this next week... Also funny your mama referenced a hat because in my family we call them "sombreritos" which means little hat's.

Julia you sure can make your own labneh using the prescribed method.. what we usually do is we put the plain yogurt with a bit of salt in a cheese cloth bag, and then hang it somewhere to drain for an hour or two and then place it in a colander in the fridge overnight.

My husbands mother made this in front of me many years ago. She stuffed the dumplings with dehen and pine nuts. Then she made a sauce by frying onions in dehen when soft add water and simac. then she cooked the dumplings in the oven till golden brown. Then she dropped the dumplings in the simac sauce. It may be called Shish Barack bi Simac. Never have tried it, but with your dough recipe, I will give it a try

Hello! Definitely going to be trying your recipe very soon. My only question is, this recipe for the dumplings is meant to be split and used for several meals correct? If so, how many dumplings about per meal? I have never had this before but it looks and sounds so delicious! Thank you so much!! :)

A friend of the family in Michigan made these years ago and I never had a recipe. I recently found some frozen lamb dumplings in my local grocery and they were very good. But since I love to cook, I am going to this recipe. I did make my own yogurt sauce and it curdled so I will try adding cornstarch or egg. I ended up just putting Labneh, salt, pepper and mint over them.

My Dad grew up having this at his Sito's. He hasn't had it in years but I'm planning to make it (and several other of your wonderful recipes) for a special feast for him this week. Thank you for sharing!

Hi Nada - thank you for your comment. Regarding naming, it all depends on where you're from. I know our Egyptian siblings call Yogurt by Zabadi, and milk by Laban. In Lebanon, we call Yogurt as Laban, and milk as Haleeb. As for Labneh, this is basically yogurt that has gotten the whey drained out of it. It's sort of like kefir cheese. AS for Shish Barak, our experience has been that it tastes much better if made with Labneh (dried yogurt) that has been watered down.

I know it been long time but thanks for replying and I love your recipes. I will try the shishbarak dumplings. i never made it before I usually buy it from a nice lady who makes it.

EdgardJanuary 18, 2014

Shish barak is a lot of work if you were to make the dumplings yourself. What we do is we usually make a large number of dumplings in one sitting and which can make at least 3-5 meals. We'll cook one immediately and freeze the rest for later use. I hope you enjoy it, shish barak is one of my all time favorites!

VaivaivaiFebruary 10, 2013

I tried this recipe because I wanted to learn to do the same tasty thing I tried in Lebanese restaurant. It took me one hour to get the yogurt boiling and it was exhausting after making the dumplings! Strirring and trying to make it boil on very low heat does not help! I had to gradually increase the tempterature to finally make it boil. And the yogurt was not very smooth but did not seem to completely fall apart. Was I doing everything correctly?Also, next time I would skip adding lemon juice because it was too sour for me, and we could not eat the sause, only dumplings.I hope to master it someday! :)

Hi Vaivaivai - first of all congratulations for taking the initiative to do this recipe. This is a rather labor intensive dish and not many people are willing to invest time in it. So you got a high 5 right there. Regarding the yogurt, next time try adding some cornstarch (about 2 table spoons for 1 kilogram of yogurt) or even all-purpose flour. This will help the yogurt keep together and not break apart. In our home we recently started cooking this dish with Labneh instead of yogurt. Labneh is like Kefir cheese and is basically yogurt that had the whey dried out of it. You can get it from local Middle Eastern grocery stores. So we add some water to the Labneh and boil it on a higher heat and it won't break like yogurt would. I hope you get to try it again and enjoy the sauce this time.

I used to make this for my lebanese husband years ago but havnt in like 7 years. But I am trying today for our anniversary. I just cant do dough from scratch and using ready made pizza dough (for thin crust, not rising) so I hope it comes out ok, LOL He would have liked Koosa too, but I need his help with that, very time consuming. Crossing fingers it comes out ok...

Hi Michelle - good luck I hope it turns out well with a Pizza dough. If you decide to give it a shot though, the dough recipe we have is quite simple and if you have a good food processor it takes less than 5 minutes to make.

Hi! I love your site, and this recipe, and shish barak. But I had a very hard time with the dough. I followed your recipe exactly but the dough was very very sticky. I rolled it out on a flour dusted surface, and tried to make a dumpling, but they just fell apart because of the thinness. I tried to roll the dough a little thicker but again, it seemed like it wasn't able to hold in the filling :( I am SO frustrated as this was supposed to be a surprise for my Lebanese husband. I know maybe I am not doing something correctly but I'm not sure. Dough always gives me trouble. Any helpful hints are appreciated...

Hi Jasmine, Thank you for your kind comments. To be honest with you it's not easy getting the dumplings made right the first time so don't be discouraged. If the dough is too sticky, it needs more flour. So I suggest you add more and more flour to it until the stickiness goes away and then you can work with it. You can make the dumplings a bit larger initially until you get the hang of it. Perhaps use a lid from a larger bottle or container as your mold. Also try using less filling and once you close the dough on the filling, bind the edges together with the tips of your fingers.I found you this youtube video which details how to make the dumplings. The video features a somewhat large dumpling however you could start with the large one and as you get the hang of it you could make them smaller.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U75NCRTTF5s&feature=related

Thank thank you so much for your response! I ended up adding a little bit of oil to the dough, which helped tremendously. I am hoping that it doesn't make them tough. But when I tried again it looked smooth and non sticky like your dough in the picture. I was too tired to cook them yesterday so we will see how they turn out today, lol. I appreciate the video! Thanks again!

LisaFebruary 4, 2012

I'm from south Louisiana and my former mother in law from lebanon taught me how to make this dish. It usually takes me about 5 hours to make and 30 minutes to eat. It is by far my favorite Lebanese dish. She did not use pine nuts in the mix or the 7 spice. She taught me to add chicken bullion to the yogurt. No lemon in meat... we used cinnamon. She also used eggs in the yogurt.

You're so right about this dish taking forever to prepare Lisa :-) One thing mom taught us is to sit down and make several meals in one batch, and store them in ziplogs in the freezer. In terms of content, I've never had it with chicken bullion but it's certainly interesting to try.

Deliciouse dish and your recipe is a wonderflul example that shows how much love and work goes into it. I've had them and made them both baked or poached and prefer the baked version because of the nice texture it gives the dish. Even the poached one it is usually poached in water before being briefly cooked in the yogurt sauce at my house. Like others here I also love the fried cilantro and garlic flavor in the stew. I am surprised that you are using nothing to keep the yogurt from curdling when cooking. My mom always uses an egg white or a tablespoon or two of cornstarch to ensure the yogurt (unless she is using goat yogurt which apparently does not curdle easily with heat) does not break and to end up with a nice smooth result. I do the same at my house and typically use cornstarch, at the rate of maybe a tablespoon per cup of yogurt. I use that whenever I cook anyhting in a yogurt stew like Koussa bi Laban or Laban Ummo as well. Maybe since you directly poach it in the yogurt, the starch from the dumpligs helps in preventing the yogurt from splitting?

MaMa, wwwwwow I like them. They look very tasty.
we make at weekends ın my mom's house, when we (me and mysisters)fold them, we talk, gossip and my mum tells us something about once upon time....
We use uncooked mince meat, small chopped onion, parsley and black pepper, salt for dumplings, called" tatar böreği".
There is also one difference between cooking style. We first cook dumpling in boiling water then add yogurt sause.
http://www.tuzekmek.com/tatar-boregi/
See you.

Thank you Sare. I just checked your Tatar Boregi post and it looks GOOD. Do you add oil and Paprika to it at the end? It looks like the Tatar Boregi and Afghani Mantu seem much closer together than the Shish Barak. By the way does "Shish Barak" mean anything in Turkish?

our filling doesn't have any pine nuts in it, the rest is pretty much the same. I hear some people say that they break an egg in the labneh so you don't have to stir all the time. it stops the labneh from breaking or curdling. I agree that the dumpligs take the most time